Members & Patients | Walgreens

Neighborhood Health Destination

Walgreens is leveraging the expansive reach of our nationwide retail locations to create neighborhood health destinations. Your members can take advantage of convenient, affordable care that includes primary care, healthcare clinics, urgent care, lab services and optical, hearing and dental services.

Our strategic relationships with regional and national providers are a key component of our neighborhood health destinations. These collaborations allow us to provide national as well as locally-based service offerings to help increase regional depth and capabilities.

Your Challenges

Doctor Shortage

Experts predict there will be a shortage of approximately 14,800-49,300 primary care physicians by the year 2030¹

Long Wait Times

Patients waited an average of 24 days to see a primary-care physician across 15 markets in 2017²

Availability

Half of emergency department patients would have gone to a primary-care physician if an appointment was available when needed³

Costs per patient visit comparison

Patients of Walgreens Healthcare Clinics had lower costs and fewer ED visits.^*4

As many as 27 percent of emergency department (ED) visits could potentially be treated in lower-cost retail clinics.⁵

How We Can Help

Accessibility

Walgreens has clinic locations across 31 markets, most open seven days a week including evenings. Walk-ins are welcome.

47.8% of retail clinic visits occur outside regular office hours⁶
Patients are in and out faster, thanks to paperless kiosk check-ins and an on-site pharmacy

See clinic locations ›

Cost-Savings

Healthcare Clinic visits have significant savings potential, with a majority of the visits being for:⁷

Cough, cold, flu, sinus infections, bronchitis
Strep throat
Ear infections
Headaches and migraines
Minor joint pain
Minor injuries including sprains, strains, cuts and wounds

High-Quality Patient Care

Patients receive a follow-up call within 48 hours and visit information is sent to their PCP
Access to state-of-the-art Epic electronic health record platform for enhanced communication with health systems and PCPs**
HEDIS scores that exceed the NCQA National Benchmarks in key areas of treatment.

Healthcare Clinic Research

After-Hours Access of Convenient Care Clinics and Cost Savings Associated with Avoidance of Higher-Cost Sites of Care

The convenience and access offered by Convenient Care Clinics may help reduce unnecessary emergency room and urgent care center visits, which may result in cost-savings for the healthcare system.

Patients Who Utilize Retail Healthcare Clinics Have Fewer Emergency Department Visits and Incur Lower Overall Healthcare Cost

Results from this study suggest that retail healthcare clinics provide an affordable alternative for many primary care services and may avert more costly non-emergent emergency department visits.

Comparison of Waiting and Consultation Times in Convenient Care Clinics and Physician Offices: A Cross Sectional Study

Patients using Convenience Care Clinics had significantly shorter waiting times from check-in to seeing a clinician and significantly longer consultation times with the clinician than those reported by patients seen at family practice physicians' offices.

References

* Medical cost, total cost, ED visits and out-of-pocket costs are all statistically different at P<0.05.

** Clinics operated by our partners often operate on the same Epic electronic health record platform.

1. The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections from 2016 to 2030. Association of American Medical Colleges Web site. https://aamc-black.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/85/d7/85d7b689-f417-4ef0-97fb-ecc129836829/aamc_2018_workforce_projections_update_april_11_2018.pdf. Accessed January 2019.

2. 2014 survey of physician appointment wait times and Medicaid and Medicare acceptance rates. Merritt Hawkins. https://www.merritthawkins.com/news-and-insights/thought-leadership/survey/survey-of-physician-appointment-wait-times/ Accessed November 2, 2018.

3. Coster JE, Turner JK, Bradbury D, Cantrell A. Why Do People Choose Emergency and Urgent Care Services? A Rapid Review Utilizing a Systematic Literature Search and Narrative Synthesis. Acad Emerg Med. 2017;24(9):1137-1149. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5599959/.

4. Clark B L, Hou, J, Boghani S. Patients who utilize retail healthcare clinics have fewer emergency department visits and incur lower overall healthcare cost. Paper presented at: 2015 AMCP Nexus; October 2629, 2015; Orlando, FL.

5. Blue Cross Blue Shield: The Health of America Report and Blue Health Intelligence. https://www.bcbs.com/healthofamerica. PDF version: https://www.bcbs.com/sites/default/files/file-attachments/health-of-america-report/BCBS.HealthOfAmericaReport.Retail.pdf.

6. Patwardhan A, Davis J, Murphy P, Ryan S. Comparison of waiting and consultation times in convenient care clinics and physician offices: a cross-sectional study [published online ahead of print June 11, 2012]. J Prim Care Community Health. doi:10.1177/2150131912450030.

7. Weinick RM, Burns RM, Mehrotra A. Many emergency department visits could be managed at urgent care centers and retail clinics. Health Aff (Millwood). 2010;29(9):1630-1636.